A Study of the Relationship between Dipole Noise Sources and the Flow Field Parameters around the Rearview Mirror of Passenger Cars

Abstract

When air flows through the mirrors, A-pillars, and other surfaces of a passenger car, airflow separation occurs to generate vorticity and generates aerodynamic noise. The dipole noise source is the main source of aerodynamic noise when the passenger car is travelling at high speed. In order to reveal the relationship between the physical quantities in the flow field and the intensity of the dipole noise source, this paper equates each dipole noise source to a sphere radiating noise to the outside. The acoustic wave fluctuation equations expressed as spherical coordinates are combined with the acoustic boundary conditions and the equations of motion of an ideal fluid medium to obtain the relationship between the intensity of the dipole noise source and the flow velocity and vorticity in the flow field. Then, through flow field simulation, we establish a method of identifying the dipole noise source and its distribution area, and analyze the generation mechanism of the dipole noise source. Through the analysis, it is concluded that the dipole noise sources are mainly concentrated in the airflow separation areas, which easily generate vortices. The size of the vorticity is the key factor affecting the intensity of the dipole noise source. When the intensity of the dipole noise source reaches its peak, the direction of the flow vorticity is perpendicular to the direction of the flow velocity and the peak of the flow velocity occurs before the peak of the dipole noise source, which indicates that the angle between the flow vorticity and the flow velocity, as well as the flow velocity, also has a certain effect on the generation of the dipole noise source.

Keywords

• passenger vehicle
• the intensity of dipole noise sources
• generation mechanism
• flow field simulation
• vorticity
• air flow velocity